What are the differences between NB-IoT and LoRa in terms of power consumption of IoT terminals?

To make a comparative analysis between NB-IOT and LoRa, we must first consider two important factors regarding the power consumption of IoT terminals, namely the current consumption of the node (peak current and average current) and the protocol content. The synchronous protocol of the cellular network requires that the terminal must be connected to the network regularly with a short downlink delay. LoRaWAN uses the asynchronous ALOHA protocol, which requires the terminal to be woken up regularly. The terminal can sleep for a longer or shorter period of time according to the specific application scenario requirements.

The design concept of cellular networks is to improve the utilization of spectrum, which sacrifices node cost and battery life accordingly. In order to reduce costs and extend battery life, LoRaWAN nodes will have certain shortcomings in spectrum utilization.

The essential requirement of terminal node operation is network coverage. For NB-IoT, an obvious advantage is that it can provide network deployment by upgrading existing network facilities. A prominent advantage of the LoRa industry chain is that members of each link have autonomy and can decide the scope of network deployment by themselves.

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Anyone can install, operate and maintain a LoRa network. To support roaming or mobility, LoRa needs to sign different contracts with different network operators. In addition, different operators have different QoS issues. LoRa's vitality lies in its openness, but its flaws also lie in its openness. The fragmentation of the network itself will inevitably lead to the inoperability of mobility services. Security issues are gradually being put on the LoRa agenda. LoRa also needs to integrate additional security solutions to achieve the security of the Internet of Things. At this point, the technology based on the operator network has a natural advantage, that is, it has excellent security without the need for additional integration.

It is difficult to tell which one of NB-IoT and LoRa has an absolute advantage in technology. The biggest difference between the two is whether they work in licensed spectrum. Due to interference and other problems, products based on unlicensed spectrum will have problems in just a few days. Licensed and unlicensed spectrum have become the key to the future development of NB-IoT and LoRa technology.

NB-IoT and LoRa will shine in the fields of operator-level and enterprise-level LPWAN respectively. There is a healthy competitive cooperation relationship between the two. The licensed spectrum represented by NB-IoT and the unlicensed spectrum represented by LoRa will start from their respective advantages and carry out commercial use in a complementary manner.